The crowd began to cheer loudly as a very big man with leathery skin came into the arena and announced the first battle. These were theiustobouts, or the more amateur bouts, involving thenovicius, the novices, against thetiro, who were men that were the next tier up from the novice class.
In fact, the first fight was over before it started. The more advanced man struck thenoviciuson the head and down he went. There were two more bouts after that, which went for a fairly long time, and the crowd was worked up into a frenzy for the major bouts to come later.
The next bout was billed as aprimus, which was essentially hand-to-hand combat. A man called The Beast came out first and the crowd went mad for him. They were screaming, calling his name, and he acknowledged their adoration. He was only carrying a club and a shield and wore no protection at all on his half-naked body. He didn’t even wear shoes. Isadora was so focused on the barbarian-looking warrior that she failed to see The Beast’s opponent emerge into the arena.
It was Cam.
Isadora could hardly believe her eyes. He, too, was stripped from the waist up, holding a shield and a club just like The Beast was. Cam was a big man but he wasn’t nearly the size of The Beast, who went after him almost immediately.
It was all Isadora could do not to gasp in fear.
Eyes wide, she watched in horror as Cam tried to fight off a giant. In truth, he wasn’t doing much fighting, mostly trying to stay clear of The Beast’s club, and the crowd was becoming restless. They wanted to see a fight and Cam simply wasn’t giving them one.
He was just trying to stay alive.
This wasn’t what Isadora wanted her father to see. Quickly, she rose from her seat.
“I’ll return,” she said.
Assuming she had personal business to attend to, Niall simply shrugged and let her go, returning his attention to the fight.
But Isadora had a destination in mind. Racing up the aisle, she skirted the very top of the arena and came down the aisle onthe far side, far away from her father and brothers. There were people gathered down there, watching, but she shoved through them until she was at the edge of the arena.
Down here at eye level, the situation looked much more serious as Cam had now lost his shield and was trying to match The Beast blow for blow. They both had clubs, both of them trying to pummel each other, only The Beast was stronger simply because of his size.
Isadora could see that Cam wasn’t long for this fight if he didn’t do something fast.
He would have to fight dirty.
“Go for the feet!” she screamed at him. “His feet! Hit his feet!”
She had to scream a few more times before he happened to catch sight of her because she was in his line of vision. She wasn’t hard to miss with her red hair and waving arms, and Cam caught sight of her as he tried to maneuver his way around The Beast.
Seeing she had his attention, Isadora pointed at her feet.
“Hit his feet!The feet!”
From his expression, Isadora could tell that Cam understood her. The next time The Beast took a swing at him, Cam ducked under the man’s swipe and used his club to pound The Beast’s exposed toes. Being shoeless in a fight was extraordinarily arrogant, or extraordinarily stupid, and The Beast howled in pain. He lost both his club and his shield, nearly falling from the shock of having his toes crushed.
The crowd, seeing a twist in the game that now made it much more interesting, began to yell encouragement to Cam. They loved their champion, but they loved an underdog more. Cam dared to take his focus off The Beast for a split second, glancing at Isadora with a smile on his lips, one she readily returned. But that smile was short-lived. Angry and in pain, The Beast attacked Cam.
The Beast caught him from the side, plowing into him and lifting him up before throwing him down onto the ground, right onto his back. With the wind knocked out of him, Cam could barely defend himself when The Beast came down on him, fists swinging. Instinct had Cam throw up his arms to protect his head, but The Beast got in a few heavy blows before Cam brought up his knee, ramming it into The Beast’s groin.
The Beast was stopped, but only momentarily.
As Isadora watched in horror, The Beast angrily threw Cam around. At one point, Cam was on his feet, trying to throw a punch that was easily blocked. The Beast picked him up by the head and Cam used his thumbs, jamming them into The Beast’s eyes just as he’d done to Luther those months ago. When the man screamed, and dropped him, Cam rammed The Beast in the abdomen with his shoulder as hard as he could.
The Beast went down.
By this time, there were men in the arena to break up the fight because Cam lost the bout the moment The Beast threw him onto his back and knocked the wind out of him. Once a man was down, he was not allowed to rise again, but because The Beast was on the offensive, Cam had not been given a choice. It was either defend himself or die.
By the time the marshals broke up the fight, Cam could barely stand and The Beast had to be dragged out of the arena by several men. Cam tried to make it out under his own power but he fell to his knees.
Isadora was over the barrier and onto the arena floor before anyone could stop her.
“I have ye,” she said, propping Cam up and helping him walk. “Come along, Cam. I have ye.”
Cam was dazed, bleeding all over the place. He couldn’t even speak. Isadora got as far as the entry into the holding yard before she was stopped and separated from Cam. As she was forciblyescorted back to the lists by two soldiers, Cam was taken away by some men.
